Britain faces wave of post-lockdown terror plots, Priti Patel warns

BRITAIN faces a wave of post-lockdown terror plots, Home Secretary Priti Patel has warned.

Islamic fanatics and right-wing extremists have been curbed by controls in place for the pandemic.

But as restrictions ease, spooks fear a surge in attack planning.

Britain could also see a rise in newly radicalised recruits triggered by spending months alone online.

Ms Patel said: “The threats are everywhere.

“We’ve had a year of people being locked down. We see all sorts of issues in terms of mental health.

“We have to look at a wide range of environmental factors that could act as triggers when it comes to ­terrorism-type behaviour.”

Her comments were backed by Chris Phillips, the ex-head of national counter terrorism.

He said: “The growth of right-wing terrorism is a major issue. It’s certainly the growth area at the moment, albeit that we still have the extreme Islamic threat.”

A new Counter Terrorism Operations Centre opened on Monday, bringing MI5, the Met, Home Office and Prison Service all under one roof to better tackle the terror threat.